Page 4 of Daddy's Rule

"No, I have. I'm just not explaining it correctly. It’s more like… a handyman service. Rent-A-Dom if you will, only, because we are going to have to be our first service providers, Rent-A-Daddy.

"Rent-A-Daddy!" Suddenly looking a lot more enthusiastic, Theo clapped his hands. "It's perfect. I love it. Jesus man, you could have saved us both a lot of time and just said those three words!"

"So… you think it would work? You have to be fully on board, because if we want to get it off the ground, we'll have to be the first Daddies."

"I'm in. Let's make up some plans, outline what we’ll do, what services we’re willing to provide, write up some sample contracts, and then pitch it to the others. We can do it tonight. We have that thing, at Lennon's."

That "thing" was our weekly business dinner; really just an excuse to gorge ourselves on good food and high-end drinks and use it as a write off.

"Cool. What about Nyla? Should we give her a call and loop her in?"

"Nah." He shook his head. "Nyla’s got a lot going on these days. You know she prefers to be more of a silent partner, anyway. She'll ask about it when she notices, which will be when the checks start rolling in."

Manhattan

Nyla

“What do you mean you have another business trip? You just got back!”

I followed behind Jacob as he moved around our room, collecting clothes and tossing them into his huge suitcase. “You’ve been home a total of three days this month. Why all of a sudden does your job involve so much traveling?”

I had my suspicions, but I kept them to myself. I didn’t want to think about him being with another woman. It wasn’t that I still loved him; I hadn’t even liked him for a long time, but it was the principle of the matter. He was my husband and if he didn’t want to be my husband anymore, he needed to man up and tell me. Affair or not, I didn’t see that happening. He liked my money too much to just let me go. Thank god Archer had made me get a prenup before we got married. Stupidly, I’d actually fought him on it. I was a naive kid and I’d trusted Jacob, and I didn’t want to have that piece of paper between us. But now, four years later, I could have kissed Archer for making me go through with it.

“I don’t know Nyla,” Jake huffed, looking down at me as if I was stupid. “They tell me when and where to go, and I just do it. It’s my job. We can’t all be as lucky as you and have money show up in our accounts every month without doing a damn thing.”

My stomach flipped, unease clenching my gut. This had to be about another woman. Jacob didn’t have enough of a work ethic to take his job as seriously as he was currently pretending to. Aside from that, fuck him for talking to me the way he was.

“That’s a low blow Jacob Lasseter and you fucking know it. I do my share of work for Penthouse Enterprises and I have clients outside that, as well. I work every day.”

He knew this very well, but he still used my lottery winnings and subsequent investments against me every chance he got. The truth was, I had to work, because Jacob spent money like it was water, making extravagant, unnecessary purchases every chance he got. Before Jacob, I’d had a substantial savings. Now, even though our combined monthly income was more than some people made in a year, we still lived paycheck to paycheck. If there was money in the bank, Jacob was quick to spend it.

“Yeah okay,” he agreed, just to appease me, rolling his eyes. “Can you get out of my way? You’re going to make me late.” He shoved past me and I balled my fists together.

“Is Cheyanne going on this trip?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask for a list of participants.”

His lack of eye contact told me everything I needed to know, but who was I kidding? I’d already known the answer before I asked the question.

“Whatever, I don’t care. Have a good trip.”

I took one last look at my husband, trying to find any trace of the feelings I’d once had for him, but there were none. None aside from a burning anger and complete indifference. Any love or affection I’d felt toward him was gone, and as soon as he left, I was gone too.

It would be an easy split to make, financially and emotionally. Everything we owned was in my name, another thing Archer had encouraged me to do. Every property, every vehicle. All of it was mine. I could make one phone call and begin selling it all off, then I could file for divorce and walk away from this whole mess. I could get a smaller place and stay in New York and live the life I deserved. The life I’d always wanted. Only I’d be alone. No, not alone. Free. I went into my office, pulled out my computer, and started to look at properties. He’d be gone at least a few days, which was plenty of time to get my affairs in order and be out of this house. Selling things might take a little longer than that, but at least I could begin my new life without him. Alone.

The reality of that sunk in, and for a fraction of a second I questioned if I was doing the right thing. I’d never lived alone a day in my life. Not really. I went from my parent’s house to the dorms to an apartment building with my best friends all living on the same floor. Then I married Jacob. When I’d said “I do”, I’d thought it would be for forever. What a joke. I should have listened to my friends. I should have seen the red flags when he would get jealous when I had to discuss business with one of the guys. I should have bailed when he made it so uncomfortable to be friends with the people who meant the world to me that I walked away from them.

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda, but didn’t,” I told my computer screen as I scrolled.

I didn’t need or want the big lavish penthouse Jacob had insisted we buy so he could show off to his coworkers and feel important. When we bought it, I’d imagined filling it with children, but you had to have sex to get pregnant, and I couldn’t even remember the last time Jacob touched me, or the last time I’d even wanted him to. I was such an idiot.

“Oh well, time to move on.” I kept talking to the empty room.

I heard Jacob’s suitcase roll past my office, but he didn’t even stop to say goodbye. He was making my decision easier by being such a dick. I got up and watched from the window as he got in the car and took off. If I had it my way, that would be the last time I ever had to see him.

Grabbing my phone, I went back to my computer and started the journey to a new life. I could have called the guys and gotten help in liquidating my assets, and I was positive Archer would help me with the divorce papers if I asked, but I didn’t want to ask. I was embarrassed that they were right, and I hadn’t been the greatest friend to them the last few years, so why would they even want to help me? No, when I called them, I wanted to have all of my ducks in a row and be free of Jacob completely.

I scrolled through New York properties, but did I really even want to stay there? It had never felt like home, so maybe it was time for a change. I expanded my search as I called my financial advisor and left a message for him to call me back, but after scrolling through dozens of properties I slammed my computer shut. I had no idea what I wanted or where I wanted to go, and I didn’t really feel like making the decision tonight.

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